[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

INLS310 Anonymity & Privacy Update for 17 February 1997

INLS310 Anonymity & Privacy Update for 17 February 1997

CONTENTS:

* Anonymity/Privacy in the News
* Hands-on Help
* Tools
* Policy

|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|::|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|

***
***ISSUE: A/P in the News
***

[Big Brother is Watching, part 1.]

Town Council uses federal grant to install new security system at
park-and-ride lots 

BY STEVE MRAZ 
DTH STAFF WRITER 

[...]
Because of increased vehicular vandalism and break-ins, the Chapel Hill
Town Council approved the installation of security cameras in two of the
town's three park-and-ride lots last Monday. 

The high-tech systems, equipped with motion sensors, will cost $158,914
and begin service within 60 to 90 days, transportation director Bob
Godding said. A majority of the cost will be covered by a federal grant,
council member Joe Capowski said. 

According to Chapel Hill police reports, vehicle larceny has increased 29
percent since 1995."(Car break-ins and vandalism) was one of the problem
areas in the '96 crime report," Capowski said. "We wanted to do something
to improve this." 

Monitors will record and send live images from the lots to police
headquarters on Airport Road. 

Routine police patrols of the lots will not end when the cameras become
operational."The cameras will supplement and aid the police department,"
council member Lee Pavao said. 

Michael Leighs, a junior from Marlborough, Mass., who parks his car at the
Southern Village Park-and-Ride, said the cameras would provide him a
peace of mind."I'll feel a lot better about having my car out there now
that it will be continually monitored," Leighs said.

[...]

[From the Daily Tar Heel, 17 February 1997]


***
***ISSUE: Hands-on Help
***

ANONYMOUS WEB SURFING (Part 1.)
The world-wide web transport protocol, http, includes the ability for a
server to see what site a user is coming from (the referring site). Using
this capability and the ability to set "cookies" (see the Feb 10 A/P
Update), web sites can begin to build profiles of your viewing habits
and preferences. There are two things you can do to thwart the referrer
activity: 

1. Set your home page in Netscape to something innocuous, like the Yahoo
   top page, and go to that before linking to another site. (Pretty
   inconvenient.)

2. Use a proxy server (such as http://www.anonymizer.com) that
   removes your identifying information entirely.

The next A/P update will detail how to do #2.


***
***ISSUE: Tools
***

ANONYMOUS SNAIL MAIL
Anonymous email isn't anything unique - take a look at the Orlando Mail
Drop site (www.2020tech.com/maildrop/) for the classic and time-tested way
to become anonymous: mail forwarding services.


***
***ISSUE: Policy
***

[Big Brother is Watching, part 2.]

THREE COMPANIES OKAYED FOR 56-BIT TECHNOLOGY EXPORT
[Cynical headline: "NSA Cracks 56-bit Crypto"]
 
Digital Equipment Corp., Cylink Corp. and Trusted Information Systems all
have received the go ahead from the Commerce Department to export products
incorporating the 56-bit Data Encryption Standard algorithm.  Previously,
companies were limited to exporting products with a key length of 40 bits
or less, except for applications in the financial services sector.  "This
makes the Internet more attractive for our customers worldwide, and
represents an exciting market opportunity for Digital," says Digital's
chairman. The assistant secretary of commerce for export administration
was quoted by Cylink as saying that the new policy "marks the start of a
new flexibility in  U.S. encryption export policy."
(BNA's Electronic Information Policy & Law Report 7 Feb 97)
[From EDUPAGE]
 
|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|::|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|:|

Send comments or suggestions to:  macmw@ils.unc.edu
Previous A/P Updates are archived at: http://ils.unc.edu/bitbucks/310